“I try to make bedtime sacred, to have some alone time with each kid every night, when it is possible,” she said, adding, ”... Except for the nights when it’s not possible. I work, and I have a job that means that sometimes I have to go out at night, and sometimes I need to go out at night just for me.”

Garner has three children with Ben Affleck ― 10-year-old Violet, 7-year-old Seraphina and 4-year-old Samuel. She said being present for her kids is a top priority as a parent. “They need you to focus, and they need your attention, and you never know when they are going to drop some nugget of insight into their brains that you have been waiting for,” the actress said.

“It’s like when they were babies, and you knew they needed to burp, but they just wouldn’t,” she continued. “You want to say to them, ‘You would be so much happier if you would just burp!’ It’s the same when I am waiting for my kids to say something I know is bothering them. The trick now is just to be available ― and in a chill way ― to receive it when they finally do.”

Added the mom, “I give it all I can.”

As her kids grow up, Garner said she’s tackling new challenges, particularly when it comes to technology. Now that Violet is in fifth grade, she needs a computer or other smart device to do some of her homework assignments.

“Our daughter doesn’t have any of those things, and she’s, like, the only kid in the class who doesn’t, apparently,” the actress said. “So I found an old laptop this weekend for her, and I am kind of panicked about it. She’s not on social media yet — her school has a no social media policy until 6th grade — but I know it’s coming soon.”